Transleithania
The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (1867-1918) was a component of the dual monarchy . It represented the Hungarian part of the dual monarchy, the largest and foremost entity of which was the Kingdom of Hungary. The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was informaly referred to as Transleithania, as opposed to , the Austrian part. Government Hungary is a constitutional monarchy, its monarch bearing the title of king. The succession to the throne is hereditary in the order of primogeniture in the male line of the house of ; and failing this, in the female line. The king must be a member of the . The king of Hungary is also emperor of , but beyond this personal union, and certain matters regulated by both governments jointly (see ), the two states are independent of each other, having each its own constitution, legislature and administration. The king is the head of the executive, the supreme commander of the armed forces of the nation, and shares the legislative power with the parliament. The constitution of Hungary is in many respects strikingly analogous to that of , more especially in the fact that it is based on no written document but on immemorial prescription, confirmed or modified by a series of enactments, of which the earliest and most famous was the Golden Bull of Andrew III. (1222), the Magna Carta of Hungary. The ancient constitution, often suspended and modified, based upon this charter, was reformed under the influence of Western Liberalism in 1848, the supremacy of the Magyar race, however, being secured by a somewhat narrow franchise. Suspended after the collapse of the Hungarian revolt in 1849 for some eighteen years, the constitution was restored in 1867 under the terms of the Compromise (Ausgleich) with Austria, which established the actual organization of the country. The legislative power is vested in the parliament, which consists of two houses: an upper house or the House of Magnates, and a lower house or House of Representatives. The House of Magnates is composed as follows: princes of the royal house who have attained their majority (16 in 1904); hereditary peers who pay at least £250 a year land tax (237 in 1904); high dignitaries of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches (42 in 1904); representatives of the Protestant confessions (13 in 1904); life peers appointed by the crown, not exceeding 50 in number, and life peers elected by the house itself (73 altogether in 1904); members ex officio consisting of state dignitaries and high judges (19 in 1904); and three delegates of . The House of Representatives consists of members elected, under the Electoral Law of 1874, by a complicated franchise based upon property, taxation, profession or official position, and ancestral privileges.3 The house consists of 453 members, of which 413 are deputies elected in Hungary and 43 delegates of Croatia-Slavonia sent by the parliament of that province. The members are elected for five years and receive payment for their services. The parliament is summoned annually by the king at Budapest. The official language is Magyar, but the delegates of Croatia-Slavonia may use their own language. The Hungarian parliament has power to legislate on all matters concerning Hungary, but for Croatia-Slavonia only on matters which concern these provinces in common with Hungary. The executive power is vested in a responsible cabinet, consisting of ten ministers, namely, the president of the council, the minister of the interior, of national defence, of education and public worship, of finance, The franchise is "probably the most illiberal in Europe." Servants, in the widest sense of the word, apprenticed workmen and agricultural labourers are carefully excluded. The result is that the working classes are wholly unrepresented in the parliament, only 6% of them, and 13% of the small trading class, possessing the franchise, which is only enjoyed by 6% of the entire population. As regards local government, the country is divided into municipalities or counties, which possess a certain amount of self-government. Hungary proper is divided into sixty-three rural, and - including Fiume - twenty-six urban municipalities. These urban municipalities are towns which for their local government are independent of the counties in which they are situated, and have, therefore, a larger amount of municipal autonomy than the communes or the other towns. The administration of the municipalities is carried on by an official appointed by the king, aided by a representative body. The representative body is composed half of elected members, and half of citizens who pay the highest taxes. Since 1876 each municipality has a council of twenty members to exercise control over its administration. Administrative Divisions Since 1867 the administrative and political divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown have been in great measure remodelled. In 1868 Transylvania was definitely reunited to Hungary proper, and the town and district of Fiume declared autonomous. In 1873 part of the "Military Frontier" was united with Hungary proper and part with Croatia-Slavonia. Hungary proper, according to ancient usage, was generally divided into four great divisions or circles, and Transylvania up to 1876 was regarded as the fifth. In 1876 a general system of counties was introduced. According to this division Hungary proper is divided into seven circles, of which Transylvania forms one. The whole country is divided into the following counties: # The circle on the left bank of the Danube contains eleven counties: Arva, Bars, Esztergom, Hont, Lipto, Nograd, Nyitra, Pozsony (Pressburg), Trencsen, Turocz and Zolyom. # The circle on the right bank of the Danube contains eleven counties: Baranya, Fejer, Gyor, Kornai-0m, Moson, Somogy, Sopron, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem and Zala. # The circle between the Danube and Theiss contains five counties: Bacs-Bodrog, Csongrad, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok and Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun. # The circle on the right bank of the Theiss contains eight counties: Abauj-Torna, Bereg, Borsod, Gomor-es Kis-Hont, Saros, Szepes, Ung, Zemplen. # The circle on the left bank of the Theiss contains eight counties: Bekes, Bihar, Hajdu, Maramaros, Szabolcs, Szatmar, Szilagy and Ugocsa. # The circle between the Theiss and the Maros contains five counties: Arad, Csanfid, Krasso-Szoreny, Temes and Torontal. # Transylvania contains fifteen counties: Also-Feher, BeszterczeNaszod, Brasso, Csik, Fogaras, Haromszek, Hunyad, Kis-Kiikiillo, Kolozs, Maros-Torda, Nagy-Kiikiillo, Szeben, Szolnok-Doboka, Torda-Aranyos and Udvarhely. Fiume town and district forms a separate division. Croatia-Slavonia is divided into eight counties: Belovar-Koros, Lika-Krbava, Modrus-Fiume, Pozsega, Szerem, Varasd, Verocze and Zagrab. Besides these sixty-three rural counties for Hungary, and eight for Croatia-Slavonia, Hungary has twenty-six urban counties or towns with municipal rights. These are: Arad, Baja, Debreczen, Gyor, Hodmezo-Vasarhely, Kassa, Kecskemet, Kolozsvar, Komarom, Maros-Vasarhely, Nagyvarad, Pancsova, Pecs, Pozsony, Selmecz-es Belabanya, Sopron, Szabadka, Szatmar-Nemeti, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Temesvar, Ujvidek, Versecz, Zombor, the town of Fiume, and Budapest, the capital of the county. In Croatia-Slavonia there are four urban counties or towns with municipal rights namely: Eszek, Varasd, Zagrab and Zimony.